Updated: 12 best Xbox One games - this generation's must-play titles

Introduction

Microsoft's Xbox One console is getting on for two years old now, but in terms of this generation's lifespan it's only really just getting into its stride.

That maturing development process is ably shown by the outstanding games now available to the unashamedly VCR-looking machine and also by Microsoft's show-stopping event at this year's E3.

So if you've got an Xbox One and want to know what the must-play games are for this generation then look no further, we've got you covered.

But let us know what you think. Are there some blockbusters you think need to be on the list? Are there some hidden gems that you feel are missing out?

Hit us up in the comments.

1. Ori and the Blind Forest

You'd have to be blind to miss this indie fantasy stunner

A top-class graduate of the "Metroidvania" school of action-adventure design, in which an enormous world gradually opens up as you unlock new abilities, Ori is the kind of experience you show a reactionary relative who thinks "videogame art" is a contradiction in terms.

There's the world, to start with - a dreamlike maze of canted-over trunks, thorny caverns and sunlit glades – but it's not just a question of blissful visuals. Ori is a crisp, empowering platformer, with a main character who learns to scurry up surfaces and ricochet away from projectiles, like a spacecraft "sling-shotting" around a planet.

The combat grates after a while, and there are annoying run-the-gauntlet sequences, but this is otherwise one of the generation's finest new IPs on any console.

2. Forza Horizon 2

The open road has never seemed more inviting than in Playground's festival of racing

Ever the happy-go-lucky off-roader to Forza Motorsport's sternly authentic simulation, the Horizon series' debut on Xbox One gives you a jaw-dropping play environment with hardly any civilian traffic to worry about – a mix of South France and Italy that's enlivened by dynamic weather and lighting (the engine actually simulates how light is distorted by passage through a 3D atmosphere).

Your goals are simple: accept quests in any order, unlock new cars, force other drivers to eat your dust. The game's 30 fps performance isn't genre-best, and players of the original may feel a sense of deja vu, but this is first-rate automotive entertainment on the whole.

See the best Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One) deals

3. Dragon Age: Inquisition

Inquisition is the proverbial RPG banquet - a 200-hour array of quests, magic-infused scraps, postcard landscapes and well-written character interactions that's perhaps a bit too familiar, at times, but makes up for it with sheer generosity.

It puts you in charge not just of a four-man party of adventurers but also a private army with its own castle and attendant strategic meta-game, tasked with defeating a mysterious demon menace.

The choice of Unreal Engine makes for vast open environments and sexily SFX-laden combat – fortunately, you can pause the latter to issue orders if the onslaught becomes overwhelming. It's a genre giant.

See the best Dragon Age Inquisition (Xbox One) deals

4. Titanfall

Building-high robots and jetpack troopers butt heads in this modern classic

Once the Xbox One's flagship console exclusive, Titanfall has faded from view thanks to a slightly spartan feature set – there's not much to unlock next to Destiny and Call of Duty. It remains this generation's smartest and most unusual FPS, however, marrying ninja-fast on-foot combat to the gloriously thuggish thrill of piloting giant mechs, which are summoned from orbit a few minutes into each match.

The skill with which Respawn has balanced this mix of styles is remarkable – Titans have firepower in excess but they're easy to hit, and maps offer plenty of places for infantry to hide. Ejecting from the cockpit of a doomed Titan is one of this generation's most memorable moments.

See the best Titanfall (Xbox One) deals

5. Alien: Isolation

This absurdly faithful horror experience definitely isn't another day in the Corps

Isolation is the game that made the Alien scary again.

We've run into H.R. Giger's eyeless, monstrosity in so many dodgy spin-offs over the years that the basic design has lost much of its capacity for terror. Creative Assembly's interpretation stands apart in a couple of ways. One: it can't be killed by conventional means, obliging you to spend much of the game hiding in lockers with one eye glued to your motion tracker. Two: it's horribly smart, responding to your avoidance tactics as a predator would rather than plodding along a pre-programmed path.

Add in the space station environments, which are modelled with obsessive exactness on the film's sets, and you have a franchise-defining title.

See the best Alien: Isolation (Xbox One) deals

6. Kalimba

It takes two to shine in this crazily inventive platformer

Press Play's "single-player co-op" endeavour Kalimba strikes a homely figure alongside Xbox One's surfeit of dust-brown shooters, but in terms of originality of concept and inventiveness of execution it has few equals.

The gist: you control two hopping, differently coloured totem heads simultaneously, guiding them past hazards and pitfalls.

The twist: your characters are often split up from one another by the terrain, and must face different combinations of hazards, including energy fields which fry anything that isn't the same colour.

The result is an incredibly testing puzzler that has the immediacy and zest of a Mario title.

7. Halo: The Master Chief Collection

A Flood of online problems can't tarnish this bumper Halo package

The Master Chief Collection's aggravating networking problems have dominated headlines since release, but let's not forget just what a value-for-money package it represents. For the price of one game you get four of the greatest sci-fi shooters ever made, exhaustively reworked to take advantage of Xbox One's HD graphics capabilities and (when everything works smoothly) online functions.

Among other perks, there's a neat dual-engine feature for Halo 1 and 2 that allows you to switch between old and new graphics in real-time, and a hub menu that lets you splice missions from all four games into a bespoke themed campaign.

If you've yet to play Halo, this is the place to start in preparation for Halo 5: Guardians.

See the best Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Xbox One) deals

8. Grand Theft Auto V

There's no fear and loathing in Los Santos – just explosive entertainment

Yes, including one of last generation's greatest games among this generation's finest is rather boring, but GTA V on Xbox One is too good to ignore, with HD visuals, a longer draw distance and a faster frame-rate.

Among other, more practical perks it includes a first-person mode, which genuinely makes this feel like a different game, though the missions, tools and characters are the same. The new perspective pushes Rockstar's attention to detail to the fore, allowing you to better appreciate the landscape's abundance of in-jokes and ambient details.

GTA V's open world multiplayer remains a laidback thrill, whether you're stuntdiving with friends or teaming up to complete a Heist (a long overdue addition to MP, but worth the wait) – it's probably the best place to hang out on Xbox Live.

See the best Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One) deals

9. Sunset Overdrive

Insomniac's open worlder is a treat for the eyes and thumbs

We come and go with Sunset Overdrive's humour – there's only so many parodic jabs at pop culture you can pack in before you start to sound like somebody's tryhard uncle – but we can't fault its taste for chaos.

Created by the makers of Ratchet & Clank, the game sees you grinding, wall-running and bouncing around a mutant-infested city, building up points to trigger a colourful array of powers.

Examples? Well, how about the one that adds a lightning aura to your dodge-roll. Weapons are similarly loony – there's a gun that shoots razor-edged LPs and a launcher that fires teddybear-shaped tactical nukes. Weary of Assassin's Creed's po-face? This should lift your mood.

See the best Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One) deals

10. Ryse: Son of Rome

Gladiator meets 300 in this short-lived, simple but enjoyable epic

This might seem like an odd choice, going by the middling Metascore, but Son of Rome is far better than its scathing early reception suggests.

True, the combat isn't deep, the playlength is a paltry five-10 hours and there are those annoying crossbow turret sequences. But few games capture the ring of sword on shield like Ryse, and the game's portrayal of Roman Italy and Celtic Britain is gorgeous – by turns spectacular and suspenseful, with some of the most accomplished texture work, lighting and animation we've seen.

It's a hard game to admire, but equally hard to put down.

See the best Ryse: Son of Rome (Xbox One) deals

11. Rare Replay

Relive some of your favorite gaming memories

It's easy to label Rare Replay as another two-bit collection looking to exploit that sense of nostalgia you get by looking at the cover art for games like Perfect Dark or Banjo-Kazooie.

But dismissing the incredible collection of 30 games from Rare's heyday means missing out on an expertly crafted walk down memory lane.

While some games hold up better than others (cough, Gunfright) with a collection that spans 30 years and a half-dozen systems, you're bound to find a few titles to fall in love with one more time.

12. Guitar Hero: Live

Come for the career, stay for the online multiplayer

The Guitar Hero franchise needed a break. Like a band that's been touring for too long, the act had gotten stale, repetitive and quite frankly, expensive, to keep up with. Guitar Hero Live is the return to form for the series, hitting all the right notes while still forging its own path.

One of my biggest criticisms of past entries is that they relied on pricey DLC to keep the show going after the story mode ended. Guitar Hero Live bucks that trend by offering new songs for free on its MTV-esque music video channel called GHTV. You'll still have to shell out to unlock every song Activision's ever put out, but the solid mix of tunes will forever end the never-ending scrolling through setlists that pervades parties.